Hybrid
by Art n' Music
Summary: What if Hiccup didn't shoot down a Night Fury, but the daughter of the Night Fury. Better yet, a human-dragon hybrid named Astrid? Will love see past their differences?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Common Night in Berk**

_This is Berk. The island is twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery._

_My village. In a word, sturdy. It has been here for several generations but every single building is new. We have hunting, fishing, and a charming view of the sunset. The only problem is the pests._

A sheep grazes on one of the many patches of grass in the village, along with its large herd everywhere. Suddenly, the sheep is taken away, leaving behind grass and a big "Blaaaaaah!" A sheep looks up and walks to the spot where his pal vanished, then starts eating again, oblivious of the danger.

_Some places have bugs or mice or mosquitoes. But we have a more unique and dangerous pest called…_

A boy with auburn hair and green eyes and freckles opens a door and sees a monster flying in. He quickly closes the door just as the beast shoots a spray of molten fire, shooting from the sides and singing the front of the door.

"Dragons." he pants.

Everywhere, dragons fly to their prey and blows fire to the buildings. Big, burly men and women rush out with weapons in hand and start fighting back the terror.

_Most people would flee. But not us: We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues when it comes to, well, pretty much anything._

The boy, wearing a green tunic with darker jeans, fur boots and fur vest, runs out and starts toward the middle of the village, but dodges a falling Viking and ax. He quickly gets up, grabbing his weapon, and runs back to the battle.

_My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. A parent thinks that a horrible name will ward off gnomes and trolls. Like our Viking demeanor wouldn't do that._

A rock-ish dragon shoots out a fireball, which sends one Viking flying toward Hiccup. He quickly dodges to the right just as the Viking lands on his feet. "Mornin'!" he says before running off.

The boy continues to rush to his destination, running past the large beacons full of fire that keeps some of the dragons in the air, and other Vikings he yell at him to get inside. He doesn't pay attention to where he's going, and was about to run into dragon fire range, but a big hand quickly pulls him back. "Hiccup!"

The Viking holds him up and yells, "What is he doin-! What are you doing out? Get inside!" before pushing me toward the blacksmith.

_That's Stoic the Vast, chief of the tribe. They say when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off its neck. Do I believe it? Yes I do._

"What've we got?" he asks to a nearby Viking.

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, oh and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

A fireball explodes a house, and the Viking quickly hides behind his shield as debris flies around, but Stoic ignore it. "Any Night Furies?"

"None so far."

"Good." He says, flicking a burning wood piece off his armor.

Hiccup finally makes it to the blacksmith where his friend fixes a sword. "Nice of you to join the party. I thought you'd be carried off."

"What? Who, me?" the boy asks, switching his vest for an apron. "No no, I'm _way _too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all…this."

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" he asks jokingly.

_The meathead with attitude and changeable hand is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well, littler anyway._

Hiccup opens the window-door and let's fellow Vikings drop their beat up weapons down. He puts them into a pile of hot coals and heats them up to fix.

Outside, a large dragon sets a house on fire with his molten attack.

_See that? Old village, lots and lots of new houses._

"Fire!"

A group of teens hastily pull a barrel of water to the fire and quickly fill up their buckets.

_Oh, and that's Fishlegs, the large beefy kid. Snotlout, sort of an airhead and also my cousin, somehow. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, ones who always argue. And their leader, the beautiful Kristal._

Hiccup stares at the girl with a kind of hypnotized face as she and the others run past him to refill their buckets.

_Oh their job is so much cooler than mine. And, I'll admit, I have a small crush on Kristal, but who can't ignore her charm?_

He was about to crawl out when Gobber grabs him with metal pincers and pulls him back. "Aw, c'mon just let me out? I need to make my mark out there!"

"Oh, you made plenty of marks." The blonde says, putting him down. "All in the wrong places!"

"Just two minutes, alright? I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date."

"You can't throw a hammer. You can't swing an axe." He throws out, counting each with his fingers. The man picks up bolas and says, "You can't even throw one of these!"

Just as he finishes, a Viking grabs the bolas and throws at a Gronkle, which tangles it and makes it crash on the dirt.

"Yeah, I know. But this will throw it for me." Hiccup says referring to a machine he built. He places a hand on it and the machine springs open and launches bolas at a Viking outside, knocking him to the ground.

"Now this, right here, is what I'm talking about!"

"Uh, but mild calibration-"

"Hiccup! If you want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop all…this"

"But you just pointed to all of me."

"Yeah. That's it! Stop being all of you."

"Ohhh." Hiccup sounds.

"Ohhh yeah."

Y-you sir are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this raw Viking-ness contained, there will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now."

The boy takes the sword Gobber tossed him and starts sharpening it on the grinder, annoyed for the hundredth time today.

_One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here._

_A Nadder will surely get me noticed. Gronkles are tough. Killing one will definitely get me a girlfriend. Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status. And then, there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best of Vikings chase after those. They have a nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

_And then, there's one that nobody has ever seen._

A high-pitch noise echoes through the village, and one Viking yells, "Night Fury!" before all ducking under their shields. A white-blue fireball flies in the air, exploding a catapult. A shadow flies over the fire at high-speed, and the Vikings try to bring the dragon down, but miss by a long shot.

_The Night Fury never shows itself, never steals anything, and never misses. Nobody has captured a Night Fury. That's why I'm gonna be the first to do the impossible._

Gobber tosses his pincers down and attaches a hammer to his prosthetic hand, saying, "Man the fort Hiccup. They need me out there." He was about to leave, but turns and orders, "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean. Yaaaargh!"

When he vanishes, the boy quickly switches his apron with the vest, grabs the machine, and runs out. He dodges the other Vikings and rushes to a clear spot, where no light is near to ruin his vision. He opens the mechanism and aims it in the sky, searching for any sign of the unseen dragon. "C'mon. Gimme something to shoot at. Gimme something to shoot at."

In the skies, something blocks out the white stars of many, and the auburn looks through the eyepiece, ready to shoot. The high-pitch whistle comes again and fires another fireball at an untouched catapult, and Hiccup notices the fire was more of a blue than before, but has no time to dwell on it as a dark shape flies by. He quickly turns the machine and fires, but the force knocks him back. The boy quickly gets up and hears the sound he has been waiting for. A shriek comes from the sky and Hiccup spots a form falling toward the forest across the bay of the island.

"I did it?" he asks, disbelief in his voice. "Yes! I did it! Did anybody see that?"

Just then, a growl comes from behind and a red and black Monstrous Nightmare crawls up, smashing the contraption to bits. Hiccup turns around and says, "Except for you." then runs off, screaming.

Stoic hears the boy's screams and turns to see the Nightmare chasing Hiccup. He sighs in disbelief and orders, "Do not let them escape!"

"Right!"

Hiccup dodges a stream of fire from the Nightmare and runs behind a pole, breathing hard. He flinches as lava-like substance flies on the sides and the boy slowly starts looking to the left to find the dragon. The dragon's head hovers on the other side and was about to bite the kid's head off when Stoic kicks him back. Enraged, the Nightmare let's out another blast, but all that comes out is a little stream that quickly hits the floor, and it stares sheepishly at the Viking, who says, "You're all out." He starts punching and kicking the dragon's head back until it flies away, screeching in pain. Stoic turns back to the burning pole, which finally collapse and tips over, revealing Hiccup. The bowl at the top of the pole falls down the hill and Hiccup flinches every time he hears a yell from a Viking.

_Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know._

"Sorry…dad."

The flaming bowl rolls down and Vikings run to safety, letting some Nadders free. Hiccup watches as dragons fly away with their kill in their claws.

Stoic scowls and looks at his son.

Uncertainty in his head, Hiccup says, "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

His father grabs the boy's collar and pulls him away.

"It's not like the last times, dad. I mean I really actually hit it. You were all busy and I had a very clear shot. It went over just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party and look for-"

"Stop!" Stoic's booming voice breaks Hiccup's rambling.

Calming down, Stoic continues, "Just stop. Every time you set foot outside, disaster happens. Can you not see my bigger problems? Winter is almost here, and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Well, between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?" Hiccup mumbles.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Why can't you just follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't help myself. I see a dragon and I just want to kill, you know? It's who I am, dad."

Stoic sighs, pinching his nose. "You're many things Hiccup. But a dragon hunter is not one of them." He turns to his brother, Spitelout, and says, "Get him back home. I have this mess to clean up."

Hiccup's uncle leads the boy back home, and they pass the group of teens, some laughing at his failure. Tuffnut says, "Great performance, Hiccup."

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snotlout yells.

"Thank you. I was trying." He answers back with sarcasm. Spitelout slaps the back of his son's head, knocking the horned helmet off.

Near the house, Hiccup mumbles, "I really did hit a Night Fury."

"If you say so."

"He never listens!"

"Trust me, Hiccup. It runs in the family."

"But every time he does it's with his disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat." In a deep voice, Hiccup says, "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you've brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large child with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone!"

"Hiccup, it's not what you look like. You just don't have the qualifications of a Viking."

"Does it have something to do with being skinny?"

"No. I mean, look at Kristal. She's lean and she is tough. Tougher than Snotlout, I can tell you that. You just don't have the…instinct or strength or bravery of being a Viking."

"Thank you for summing that up, uncle."

"Look, what I'm trying to say is stop trying to be someone you're not."

Sighing, Hiccup says, "I just want to be one of you guys." He walks into his house, closing the door behind him, and Spitelout sighs, rubbing his forehead. "But he does have the stubbornness of his father, unfortunately." He walks back to the village and doesn't spot the auburn haired boy jump out the back way and run to the forest. _I'll show you I have the instinct, strength, and bravery of a Viking._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Discovery**

In a conference/dining building, a golden dragon is hung on the ceiling with a sword thrust through his belly and face screaming in agony. Below, Vikings chatter about what they'll do next, until Stoic yells, "Silence!"

Everyone immediately shuts up, and the chief says, "Fellow Vikings. It is time to solve our most back-breaking problem. It's either we finish them, or they'll finish us off. It's the only way to get rid of them. If we find the nest and take it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home far away." He thrusts a knife into a map on the table/fireplace, where pictures of clouds and dragons are. "One more search, before the ice sets in."

One Viking in the back says, "But those ships never come back, Stoic."

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?"

Almost all the Vikings mumble poor excuses to try and get out, but Stoic, being the smart Viking, says, "Okay. Those who stay will look after Hiccup."

Everyone raises their hands in haste, some hefting their weapons, and Spitelout says, "I'm with you Stoic."

"Ah, that's more like it."

The Vikings dismiss until it's only the chief and Gobber in the room. After putting his mug-hand down, he says, "Alright, I'll pack my undies."

"No Gobber, I need you to stay and train some new recruits." Stoic orders, walking toward his friend.

"Oh, okay. And While I'm doing that, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor-sharp blade, lots of time to himself. What could possible go wrong?"

Stoic sighs and asks, "What am I gonna do with him?"

"You could train him with the others." the blonde suggests.

"No, I'm serious."

"So am I."

"He'll be killed before you let the first dragon out." the chief reasons.

"Oh, you don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"Of course you don't."

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"No, you don't!"

Stoic says, "You know what he's like, Gobber. By the time he can crawl, he's been…different. He doesn't listen. He has the attention span of a sparrow. I take him fishing and he goes looking for-for trolls!"

"Trolls exist!" Gobber fights, waving his mug. "They steal your socks. But only the left ones. What's up with that?"

"When I was a little boy,"

The blacksmith says with irritation, "Oh, here we go again."

"My father told me to bang my head on the rock, and I did it! Thought it was crazy, but I did it. And you know what happened?"

"You got a headache." He answers sarcastically.

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking can do in life. They can crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even when I was a boy, I knew what I am, what I must become. Hiccup is not that boy."

"You can't stop him. You can only prepare him. I know this is hard to admit, but you won't be around to always protect him. He's going to get out there again. He's probably out there now."

Stoic shakes his head but gets up and says, "I'll think about it." before walking toward the door.

"The answer had better be yes."

* * *

Outside, on the other side of the island, Hiccup looks at his makeshift map in his notebook then closes his eye, praying for this spot to be it. He opens his eyes and finds…a clear forest. For the hundredth time this morning. The boy sighs and walks away, looking down and marking another X in the forest among lots of other X's. He starts scribbling everywhere to let some frustration out, then snaps his book closed, sighing. "Oh, the gods hate me."

After putting his book inside his vest pocket, he continues, "Some people lose their dagger or their mug. No, not me, I manage to lose an entire dragon!" Hiccup knocks back a branch before continuing walking, but the branch snaps back and smacks him on the face. The attack frustrates him even more, but he looks up and it all drains out when he finds the tree broken nearly in two as well as a dugout made by something huge, stopping at a raised hill. Hiccup slowly slides down the dugout with curiosity and stops behind the hill, getting ready to inspect the other side. The auburn, suspense quickly growing, slowly crawls up the dirt and finds something black on the grass. Scared, he gasps and quickly hides back behind and calms his heart down. _This is it. I'll finally prove that I have what it takes to be a Viking._

Hiccup again looks over the side and inspects his catch from the night, and instantly notices something different about the dragon.

Inside the tangle of bolas is a fourteen year old girl. An innocent looking girl with long blonde hair and bright skin, wearing a small black top that shows her midsection and has a sort of V opening in the back, and a skirt of the same color. Hiccup examines her and thinks to himself, _Oh my gods, what have I done?_

But then he notices the large black wings extending from her shirt's opening on her back, and a spiny black tail wrapped around.

Hiccup's jaw drops at the realization and he hops over the hill as silent as he can before walking toward it, or her. A closer look helps the boy find some sharp fangs sticking out of her mouth and claws on her hands and bare feet, but all together, there's a certain exquisiteness to her that Hiccup can't quite put his finger on it.

"Oh man. What exactly did I shoot down? Is it a girl, is it dragon, is it-? What else could it be besides a hybrid of both? How is that even possible?" He looks back at the girl with affection, guilty that he had trapped something this beautiful, but quickly shakes it out. "Stop it! She-it is a dragon, no matter what she-it looks like. I am a Viking," Hiccup announces proudly, placing a foot on her waist. "And I'm the one who took down the-!"

The girl growls and shakes the foot off, making Hiccup stumble back toward a boulder in surprise. He looks over at her face and sees that she has finally opened her eyes. Bright, sparkling eyes as blue as the ocean. The auburn's dark green scans the blue of the girl's, and sees something he didn't expect on a dragon, or half-dragon. Fear. Fear radiates from her eyes as thick as liquid dripping down on the grass, and Hiccup feels guilty again for entangling her.

_No! A Viking doesn't have sympathy for dragons. They kill them so they don't cause any harm to our village anymore._ He quickly gets up on his feet and takes out his dagger hidden behind his vest then walks up to the dragon girl. She watches him walk closer and more fear shows at the sight of the weapon. The chief's son raises his dagger, preparing to slice out her heart and to prove he's a Viking.

The girl then closes her eyes and lays her head on the grass, waiting for death to take her. Hiccup hesitates to strike down, having second thoughts about the whole ordeal, and opens his eyes again toward the helpless teen. All of a sudden, he just couldn't do it. His arms fall and lands on his head with the dagger, sighing. _I can't._

His arms drop to his sides and stumbles back, suddenly weak. "I did this." Hiccup turns around and was about to walk away, but turns back to the trapped beauty. His head swims in the waters of feelings, then comes to a decision and walks back.

The girl opens her eyes at hearing rope being cut and feels her limbs starting to move more freely. She looks up and sees Hiccup slicing the rope, and when he cuts the last one, launches at the boy and trapping him against the rock. With her claws pressing against his neck, Hiccup starts gasping as panic hits his head, waiting for the inevitable from the dragon. He notices her pupils have turned to slits, like a cat's, and she snarls at the auburn. _What are you waiting for?_

She takes a deep breath and the boy can guess a fireball charging inside, so he closes his eyes. Instead, the girl lets out a dragon piercing shriek, nearly making Hiccup deaf, before jumping off and flying away. Hiccup opens his eyes notices her struggling to get into the air, falling back down hard. As the girl floats away, she shouts a frustrated roar before vanishing behind some trees. Hiccup takes quick pants to try and get oxygen into his brain, thanking the gods that he's alive to see another day. He struggles to get up; grabbing his dagger, but it wasn't even three steps until the boy collapse back on the ground into unconsciousness.

* * *

Astrid flies away from the boy as quickly as she can, but finds something wrong with her flight pattern. She stumbles in the air and falls back on the ground hard. _What's the big deal? Why can't I fly!_

The girl tries again to get into the air, but once again falls back down. She growls and punches a tree to let out some frustration, cracking it in two. "What's the big deal?" The teen checks her wings and finds them fine, then raises her tail to her eyes, which widen at the sight. "That infernal human sliced off my tail fin! How the heck could he do that?" Astrid groans and tries for the last time to take off and gets farther than before, but she falls down into a basin surrounded by rocks and moss and a tree's thick roots reaching down the side. The teen crashes next to a large lake in the middle, hitting the ground harder than ever and her sight becomes fuzzy. _Oh, my head._

She loses the slight headache and looks around at her nature prison with distaste. _I am _not_ going to be trapped like some animal!_ With new fuel, Astrid jumps and flaps her large wings to get to the air, scratching the rock to get a grip, but then falls down.

The teen keeps on trying to get out of the bowl well into the night, but then finally stops, feeling defeated for the first time.

"Maybe the other dragons were right. Maybe I am a pathetic freak of nature." She admits sadly. The hybrid falls to all four and lets out a blue stream of fire, burning the grass and heating up the ground, the way her father taught her, and then lays down and curls to keep warm. She also folds her wings as her eyelids slowly close to sleep for the day, the last thought echoing in her head. _I wonder if I'll ever see dad again._

* * *

Hiccup wakes up in confusion, wondering where he is and what time it is. Soon, the teen recollects his actions and remembers the dragon girl, setting her free, and her roar in his ear. He then looks around to find it dark. _Crap! I was knocked out for almost the whole day! I just hope I'm not as late as I think!_ Hiccup starts running back to his village on the other side of the isle, which is a while away. But soon, he runs through the Viking village and stops at his house door. After catching his breath from that marathon, Hiccup hopes that his father is asleep and quietly opens the door, only to find Stoic prodding the fireplace. He silently sucks in air at his appearance, but finds him with his back turned so the teen closes the door and tries to run up the stairs, but, just his luck, his dad stops him. "Hiccup."

"Dad. Uh, there's something I want to tell you."

After turning around, the chief says, "I also need to speak to you too, son."

The two both take a deep breath, then blurt out what's on their minds at the same time.

"I don't want to fight dragons."

"I think it's time you learn to fight dragons."

"What?"

Stoic says, "Uh, why don't you go first?"

"No, no, you go first." Hiccup argues.

"Alright. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

"Oh, I should've gone first. You know, we have a surplus of dragon-killing Vikings but do we have enough…bread-making Vikings, or small home repair Vikings?"

The chief lifts up an axe and drops it in his son's arms, saying, "You'll need this."

"Dad, I don't wanna fight dragons anymore."

Chuckling, he says, "Of course you do!"

"Dad, rephrase, I can't kill dragons."

"But you _will_ kill dragons."

"No. I'm really positive that I can't."

Stoic face turns stern. "This is serious son." He grabs the hammer and adds, "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you." He then gives the axe back to Hiccup. "That means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of…this."

"You just gestured to all of me." The boy points out, annoyed.

"Deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided right now."

"Deal?" Stoic asks, a little louder.

Hiccup sighs, finally mumbling. "Deal."

"Great." He hefts up a basket, saying, "I'll be back. Probably." before leaving.

"And I'll be here. Maybe."

The door closes and Hiccup finishes his trip to his room. He puts down the weapon and sits on his bed. "What am I going to do now?" His thoughts wander to the dragon hybrid girl and wonders if she made it home yet. _Why am I worried about her anyway, out of all the dragons? Maybe because she's different. Like me. _"Now I'm just thinking crazy here."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Dragon Training**

Gobber lifts up the gate that leads to the arena, announcing, "Welcome to Dragon Training!"

Kristal takes a deep breath and mutters, "No turning back now." before walking in, followed by Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins, all carrying their weapon. They examine the large dome in awe as they wait for the training to start, excitement in the air.

Tuffnut says, "I hope I get some serious burns here."

"I'm hoping for a mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." adds his sister.

After moving some of her brown hair behind her ear, Kristal says, "Yeah, its only fun if you get a scar in training."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Everyone turns and sees the town's mess-up walking in with an axe. "Pain. Love it."

"Oh great." Tuff groans. "Who let the screw-up in?"

Gobber interrupts the teens, announcing, "Let's get started! The one who does best in the training will win the honor of killing his first dragon, or her first dragon, in front of the entire village."

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or…" Snotlout points out, making Ruffnut laugh.

_If only you knew._ Hiccup thinks.

The twin asks, "Can I move to the cool Viking training?"

The blacksmith walks behind his apprentice and says, "Don't worry, Hiccup. You're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target! They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking teens." He pushes the boy next to Fishlegs and starts, "Okay, behind these doors are a few of the many species you will learn to fight." He starts naming the dragons while walking across the shaking doors. "The Deadly Nadder."

"Speed eight. Armor sixteen." Fishlegs says.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Plus eleven stealth times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack eight. Venom twelve!"

"COULD YOU STOP THAT?" shouts Gobber, really annoyed now. He calms down and grips a wooden lever, finishing, "And finally, the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength eight." The large boy whispers to Hiccup.

Snotlout realizes what the teacher's doing and quickly asks out of fear, "Whoa whoa, wait. Aren't you going to teach us first?"

Hiccup thinks, _That's not how he rolls, Snotlout._

"I believe on learning on the job."

_Of course._

Gobber pulls down the lever, lifting the pole lock up and the Gronkle flies out with a snarl. Everyone scatters as it rushes toward them, making the dragon crash on a wall and stumbles down. After eating some rocks he found, the Gronkle flies back as Gobber says, "Today's lesson is all about survival. So if you get blasted, you're dead!"

_Are you serious! _Hiccup shouts in his head.

"Quick, what's the first thing you need?"

"Hiccup suggests, "A doctor?"

"Plus five speed?" asks Legs.

"A shield!" Kristal shouts the right answer.

"Shield! Go!" He points to a pile of shields and everyone rushes to get one. Hiccup has some trouble gripping his shield until the teacher pushes it into his arms while saying, "If you have to choose between a sword and a shield, take the shield!"

The twins both grab a shield with skulls and fire and instantly starts arguing. "Hey, get your own shield!" Tuff says.

"There's like a million shields here!"

"Take that one. It has flowers on it. Girl likes flowers."

Really angry now, Ruffnut takes the shield and bangs it on top of her brother's head painfully. "Oops. Now this one has blood on it."

He tries to take it back, but then the Gronkle spots his chance and shoots a fireball at them, blasting the shield to bits and twirling the twins to dizziness.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you're out!"

"What?" they ask groggily.

Gobber yells, "All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout guesses.

The large teen yells, "No, six!"

"Correct, six! That's one for each of you."

He feels proud that his great knowledge came in handy finally, but the dragon shoots his shield apart from behind.

"Fishlegs, you're out."

The boy screams away from the dragon. Gobber examines the arena and finds the chief's son hiding behind a wooden fence. "Hiccup, get in there!" He slowly gets back out but jumps when a fireball explodes next to him, and he hides back in.

Snotlout and Kristal watch the dragon fly, but the cousin tries to hit off the brunette in the middle of this whole thing. "So, I'm moving to my parents' basement. You should come over some time to work out. You look like you work out." In the middle, Kristal somersaults away just as a fireball hits Snotlout's shield. Gobber calls me out and the teen girl stops next to Hiccup. "So, it looks like it's just you and me, now."

"Nope. Just you." She runs off and leaves Hiccup confused, until the Gronkle shoots the shield out of his hand and starts chasing him. He tries to get the shield back, thinking that he's still in since his shield didn't fall to pieces, but Hiccup just ignores it now and tries to run away from the Gronkle. He hears Gobber shout his name but he falls against the rock wall with the dragon trapping him. The auburn starts gasping as he watches a fireball charge up inside its mouth, ready to be torched, but then a hook pulls the mouth away and blast the wall above the boy's head, making him flinch down. Gobber pulls the dragon away, saying, "That's six. Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!" He throws the rocky monster back in its cage and locks it. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry."

After the teen's gather back up, the blacksmith says, "Remember, a dragon will always," He leans closer to Hiccup. "Always go for the kill." He then walks away with the other trainees, leaving Hiccup. He checks the scorched rock where the Gronkle shot, full into thought. _If they always go for the kill…_

* * *

"Then why didn't you?" Hiccup asks to no one, picking up the slashed rope bolas. He puts down the weapon and looks in the direction the girl disappeared. The teen then walks through the forest in search for the unusual dragon, following a trail of destruction and footprints. He finds a tree that has been broken in half, and Hiccup can guess it was the girl's doing. "Man, that girl is stronger than she looks." The boy looks ahead and finds a rock wall with light seeping from between. He walks to it and squeezes through to the other side and finds a beautiful basin surrounded by mossy rocks and a large tree with roots reaching down, a fresh pond forming from a waterfall. The auburn looks around the wonder of nature and feels slightly disappointed, not finding the girl. "Well this is stupid."

Something catches his eye nearby and he looks down to see black specks on the stone, so he leans down and picks one up for closer examination. The scale shines in the sunlight, glistening brilliant colors, and a brush by his fingers to reveal that it's smooth. _Are these from her?_

Suddenly, a loud screech and a large shadow spook Hiccup, making him jump back from shock. He looks again and sees the same dragon girl trying to claw her way out but quickly slides back, but she jumps and glide away. Hiccup watches her try again, then gets an idea and takes out his notebook and charcoal pencil. After turning the book to portrait, he starts drawing the young girl with great detail while watching her try to fly away, but falls heavily back on the ground. When the boy's done, he whispers, "Why don't you just fly away?"

The girl fires a blue fireball in irritation, scorching the grass and dirt. Her tail waves around and Hiccup notices a tailfin missing on the left. He quickly erases the left fin on his drawing then looks up to see the girl claw her way up, but falls. The teen girl groans in defeat, now finding herself hungry. A fish jumps from the pond and catches her eyes, and she sneakily walks to the lake and spots fish swimming near the surface. She licks her lips and strikes with her clawed hand, but misses and sends the fish deeper down. Empty-handed, the girl sighs and lies down, and Hiccup feels bad for the girl's lack of success, but accidently drops his pencil, which rolls down. He tries to quickly grab it, but the pencil falls down and pangs loudly on the rocks. The dragon girl hears the noise and looks up to finally spot the auburn. Green eyes meet light blue for the second time this week, and the two stare at each other in curiosity, and for the girl, suspicion.

Hiccup tilts his head, and the girl repeats his action. He tilts to the other side, and the girl does the same. "You're a curious one, aren't you?" Hiccup asks.

The girl continues to stare at the boy, until he gets on his feet and, after looking back for the last time, walks back through the crack to his village.

* * *

After Hiccup vanishes, Astrid gets up and walks over to the rocks, picking up the pencil he dropped. She examines the weird thing and touches the black part, then retreats her hand to see her fingers have turned black. "Huh. Weird." She rubs her fingers together to see if the stuff falls off, but it only smears more on her finger. The teen tries to wipe it off on her black skirt but it stays on. Astrid looks over to the water and runs to it to washes her hands. Soon, the black stuff finally comes off her hands. "There. Finally off." She picks up a soft thunder and looks up to find the clouds thickening and darkening, signs of a storm coming. The young dragon looks around her area for a place to stay dry, not finding anything soon. Finally, she spots a stack of boulders with an opening, and she rushes toward it just as the first raindrops fall down and a crack of lightning.

The sky starts pouring gallons onto the ground, soaking everything in seconds. Inside the small cave, Astrid watches the rain fall in a harmonic pattern, the beats of rocks and leaves, the pelts of the lake, the trickling of water trails. She doesn't know which one is more mysterious: A human's mind or nature? Soon, the melody make her eyes droop and her head drowsy, so Astrid lowers her head onto her arms and falls asleep into a dreamful night.

* * *

By the time Hiccup made it to his village, the thundering rain has soaked him straight to the bone. He makes it to the dining building and opens the large double doors to find the other trainees and Gobber there, as well as some other Vikings. After closing the door, the auburn walks toward the table and hears Gobber talking about the training.

"Alright, where did Kristal go wrong?" he asks.

"I mistimed my somersault. It was sloppy. Through off my reverse."

"Yeah, we noticed." Tuffnut murmurs before his twin elbows him.

Snotlout argues, "No no, you were great. That was so Kristal."

"She's right. You have to be tough on yourself." The blacksmith finally notices Hiccup when he picks up a plate with a leg. "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

He picks up a cup and his cousin scoots over, making sure he doesn't sit next to them. _Like I want to._

Tuffnut says, "Uh, he showed up."

"He didn't get eaten." Ruffnut guesses.

"He's never where he should be." says Kristal.

"Thank you, Kristal."

When Hiccup sits at an empty table, Gobber takes out a book from his pocket and says, "You need to learn and breathe this stuff. The Dragon Manual." He pushes the cups and plates off the table with his mug hand and tosses the book. "It has everything we know about every dragon we know of." Thunder rumbles overhead, catching Gobber's ears. Before leaving, he says, "No attacks tonight. Study up."

"Wait, you mean read?" Tuff asks, dropping his knife.

"While we're still alive?" his twin finishes.

Snotlout says, "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?"

"Oh oh, I've read it, like, seven times." Fishlegs says excitedly. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face, and there's this 'nother one…" he continues, completely oblivious to Lout's annoyed stare. But Tuffnut interrupts, "Yeah, sounds great. There was a chance I was gonna read it."

"But now?" Ruffnut finishes, smirking.

Snotlout gets up and says, "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff."

Everyone chases after him, leaving Kristal and Hiccup behind. He gets up and asks, "So, I guess we'll just share?"

"Read it." She quickly says, leaving.

"Oh. All mine then. Great, so I'll see you…" The door slams, signaling the departure of the girl. "Tomorrow."

* * *

Once everyone has left the building, Hiccup walks toward the table, carrying a candle for light in the darkness. He sits down, setting the light next to him, and opens the Dragon Manual. "Dragon classification. Strike Class. Fear Class. Mystery class." The boy opens to the first page and reads, "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragons inhabit sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum can produce a concussive sound that can kill a man in close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." He turns to the next page. "Timberjack. This gigantic dragon has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, what are the odds? Kill on sight. Scauldron. Sprays scalding water into its victims face. Extremely dangerous." He gasps as a large thunder startles him and quickly turns to see the door hanging open, letting out a view of darkness and the storm. He collects his nerves and continues reading from the book. "Changewing. Even newly hatched babies can spray acid. Kill on sight. Gronkles. Zippleback. The Skrill. Bone Knapper. Whispering Death. Burns its victims. Buries his victims. Chokes his victims. Turns his victims inside out. Okay, they didn't need to draw that." As the candle flickers, Hiccup detects the pattern in the whole book as he flips through. "Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight." He stops at a page that is pretty much blank except for the few words at the bottom. "Night Fury." He whispers. "Speed: Unknown. Size: Unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and Death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only choice: Hide and pray it does not find you."

The boy takes out his notebook and opens up to his drawn picture of the dragon girl. "What about Hybrids?" He searches more through the book, examining every crack and every space and every word for any mention of hybrids. Hiccup comes up with no success. "Huh, looks like they never met a hybrid before. Maybe I'll just ask Gobber tomorrow." Hiccup closes the manual and grabs his candle before walking back into the damp village, the rain having stopped, and toward his house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Getting to Know One Another**

Viking boats float across the great blue expanse, along the large mass of mist and smoke, a few rocks poking out. The mist is known for Helheim Gate.

Stoic looks down at his map again, saying, "We're close. I can practically smell them." He looks up and turns to the wall of smoke. "Steady."

Everyone waits in suspense as the boat float closer to the wall. Finally, the chief gives the command, "Take us in."

"Hard to port!" calls one Viking. The boats turn left and glide into Helheim Gate. The ships vanish into the think mist and everything is silent as a grave. Until a flash lights up a silhouette of a Nightmare, along with a screech of attack.

* * *

In the dragon arena, Gobber has set up the whole place into a maze, and everyone runs through the halls to avoid the dragon, Deadly Nadder. Hiccup looks up at Gobber, who is watching from outside, and asks, "Hey, the Dragon Manual didn't have anything on Night Fury. Is there another book, or a sequel, maybe a Night Fury pamphlet?" A fire ray shoots and torches the axe he has in his hand, leaving behind only the handle.

"Focus Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber shouts.

The auburn turns his head and sees the Nadder chasing after him. He stumbles on which way he should go, then chooses to run right with the dragon on his tail. It hops onto the top of the maze and starts jumping around, looking for the other Vikings.

"Today is all about attack! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"

Just as Gobber finishes, Fishlegs gasps as the Nadder screeches at him and raises his tail. Spikes shoot out and it flings them toward the large man, but he quickly raises his shield and runs away with spikes stuck in his shield. "I'm beginning to question your teaching methods, Gobber!"

"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!" the blacksmith says in a bored tone.

The twins take a turn and run into the Deadly Nadder, quickly stopping. The dragon moves its head and the twins follow, keeping in the blind spot. Ruffnut makes the mistake of sniffing and creates a disgusted face. "Do you ever bathe?"

"If you don't like it, then get your own blind spot." He says, knocking her back and not noticing the dragon turning its head.

She headbutts him and asks, "How 'bout I give you one?"

The beast snarls at the two, who turn the heads, and Tuffnut quickly pulls his sister away before they get scorched by fire.

Gobber says, "Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot, not so much."

Hiccup stops running and asks, "So, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale, Hiccup."

"I know, but hypothetically. A-and, what about hybrid dragons?"

"Come again?" Gobber asks, confused.

"You know. A part dragon and part human hybrid?"

"Hiccup, now you're just talking crazy. There has never been a hybrid as long as anyone could remember. Now GET IN THERE!"

The auburn sighs and hears a whisper. He turns to find Kristal and Snotlout ducking down, and the girl motions him to do the same. Hiccup follows as the brunette looks around the wall, but quickly moves back as the Nadder walks in sight. She checks again and finds it looking away, so the teen makes her move to somersault across the intersection. Snotlout follows suit, and Hiccup tries to, but the shield proves to be too heavy for him as he falls back, making a loud clunk. The dragon turns and strikes, but the boy quickly get up and run for his life. The Deadly Nadder jumps across the walls and falls back down in front of Kristal and Snotlout. She was about to attack when the cousin pushes her back and says, "Don't worry babe, I got this." He throws his mace that flies way off from the dragon and bounces off the wall, and makes the dragon laugh at his impressive failure. He looks sheepishly at Kristal and quickly makes an excuse, "The sun was in my eyes, Kristal." They duck as the dragon shoots another attack and chases the two. "What do you want me to do? Block out the sun? I could do that but I don't have time!"

They split up and the Nadder pursues the brunette, accidentally knocking down one wall that starts a domino of the others. The dragon jumps onto the walls as it continues, and Hiccup asks Gobber, "Are you sure nobody has seen one? I mean, they could be real just very good at hiding."

"Hiccup!"

Kristal starts jumping on top of the wall to avoid the gnashing teeth but then realizes there are no more walls to jump. Hiccup turns and sees the brunette falling toward him with the dragon and destroyed walls.

Dust spreads through the area, and clears to find Kristal and Hiccup tangled and the Nadder buried under walls. To the side, Ruffnut and Tuffnut smile at the two and he says, "Ooh, love on the battlefield."

"She could do better."

The two tangled teens try to unravel their legs, and Hiccup says, "Why don't you…let me…"

Kristal rips her legs off and gets up. The Nadder flings the wood off and turns to the girl in rage. She gasps and picks up her sword only to find it embedded in Hiccup's shield. The teen tries to pry it off and then places her foot on the auburn's chest and pulls the shield free, swinging it into the dragon's head. It jerks its head and starts limping away, squawking in pain from the attack.

"Well done Kristal." Gobber says.

She breathes hard from all the running then turns around toward Hiccup in frustration and yells, "Is this all a joke to you?"

He looks up from his position and watches Kristal take out her anger. "You're just standing around while a dragon is loose in this arena. If you ever want to be a Viking, then I suggest you get your head into the training. With our parents' war becoming ours, try to figure out which side you're on." She walks away, followed by the others, and Hiccup gets up to watch Gobber walk off to his blacksmith. When everyone is gone from sight, the auburn grabs another shield and runs out to the harbor. He secretly grabs a fish from the many barrels of the catch of the day, and runs back into the forest. The teen finds the familiar rock entrance, but then looks down and sees a larger opening closer to the ground. _Okay, how did I miss that?_

After hopping down the small cliff and over a fallen tree, Hiccup slowly walks through the tunnel with the shield held in front. The teen stops at the exit and looks over to find the limited vision clear. He then throws the fish out to see if he can bait the girl. Nothing happens so, guessing its safe, walks forward only to be stopped by his shield, now stuck between the rocks. Hiccup tries to pull it back but stays stuck, so he hops over and tries on the other side. The shield stays trapped. The auburn sighs and turns to pick up the fish through the gill. The slime really grosses him as it slowly slides down his hand, but he continues walking and searching for the dragon girl. He knows she's here because he has the feeling of being watched from everywhere, and yet the girl's not anywhere.

Unknown to Hiccup, the dragon girl is hiding behind a stack of boulders, keeping her blue eyes trained on him and the fish. Her stomach growls for the fish and the boy freezes on hearing the sound. He turns and spots the dragon girl, who slowly crawls out of her hiding spot and jump down, her blonde hair falling from behind her ear to cover her left eye. Hiccup watches her crawl to him and notices her eyes on the fish he's holding. So the boy holds it up toward the girl, and she sniffs at the aroma wafting. She gets on her legs and walks closer, stretching out a hand. Then she catches a whiff of metal and moves back on all four, growling as her eyes turn to slits. Hiccup flinch his arm back then moves his vest, revealing the dagger tucked in his belt. He reaches for the weapon, but the girl growls again, ready to pounce on him, but the boy just grabs the tip of the handle and stretches his arm out, dropping the dagger. The dragon teen, still suspicious, nods her head toward the lake. The auburn gets the message and picks up the blade with his foot and tosses it into the water with a loud 'ker-plunk'. The girl waits a while then sits down with pupils in circles again, face curious this time.

Hiccup stretches his arm with the fish again, and the girl slowly walks toward him in hesitant, in case he has other secrets up his sleeves. She gets up and extends her hand until its barely touching the raw food, then grabs the fish and starts eating it eagerly. The auburn watches her go at the food, already eating half of it in seconds. "Wow. You must've been starving."

The teen heard him and turns with a full mouth. She swallows her food and gets up, walking toward Hiccup. Startled, he backs up and falls down, backing up onto a rock. The girl walks up to him and leans down, dropping the half-eaten fish in his lap, then sits down on her legs. They stare at each other, waiting for one to make a move. Hiccup wonders what she wants him to do with the fish, until the girl points her head to the fish then to him. The boy wonders what she means, but finally gets it. He sighs, thinking, _You've got to be kidding. _He does pick it up and bring it to his mouth, biting off a piece. The meat is really bitter, and is multiplied as the slime slides across his tongue, but Hiccup put a happy face, murmuring, "Mmm."

The dragon girl continues to watch him, and he tries to give the fish back. She just continues to gaze, then gulps for him to swallow. Hiccup groans, dropping his arms, not believing what she wants to do. Doing his best to ignore the taste, he tries to get the raw fish down his throat, but it refuses to at first. Finally, it slides down and the boy shivers in distaste as it lands in his stomach. The girl notices the shivers and guesses he doesn't enjoy it, immediately feeling bad for him.

The boy notices her sadness, so he quickly makes a goofy smirk, and the dragon girl chuckles. He smiles wider at the harmony of her laugh, and raises a hand to move her hair back, but the girl quickly snarls, switching her pupils, and flies across the lake unsteadily. She crashes on her feet with a little wobble, but then stables and walks on four, shooting out another patch of warm ground to lie. The teen curls up for the day and wraps her wings around, about to go to sleep. When she feels a presence nearby her, she opens her eyes and sees Hiccup sitting across. He waves a hand, but the girl groans and moves her tail in front of her face, extending the fin. The auburn scoots closer and stretches for the tail, but it then moves up and the girl spies him, and he stiffly walks away. The dragon hybrid, annoyed, gets up and walks toward the tree roots.

A few hours have past, and the orange sun slowly sinks behind the rock wall of the basin. Laying on one of the large roots, the dragon girl slowly opens her eyes and looks around, finding Hiccup near the lake. _Why's he still here? Shouldn't the boy be heading back to his village?_

She notices his arm moving around, and curious, the teen quietly hops down and walks up behind him.

Hiccup draws on the dirt with a stick he found, slowly revealing the dragon girl's head from the tip of her neck to the flows of her hair. As he finishes, the boy feels the girl looking over his shoulder, but he ignores her and concludes his picture. The hybrid looks at the drawing of her in admiration and gets an idea of her own. She walks back, making Hiccup confused until he hears a sound of a tree unearthed and turns to find the dragon girl holding up a small tree. She digs the end into the ground and starts drawing on the ground, like Hiccup did. He watches her walk around and sketching squiggles in the dirt, going back and forth and side to side, then she finally stops and admires her artwork.

Hiccup looks around and sees that she made squiggly lines everywhere, and is interested on the way she learned. _This is really remarkable._ He starts walking and steps on one of the lines, and the girl gives off a warning growl at him, spooking the boy. He lifts his foot and the girl quickly calms. An experiment forming in his head, the auburn lowers his foot back on the line, and the teen growls again. Hiccup tries it one more time, making the hybrid take a step. He steps over the line and sees the girl keeping calm. With a smile the boy starts moving across the artwork, careful to step over the lines, and if anyone is watching he would look like he's dancing. Soon, Hiccup stops and turns around to find the dragon girl staring at him with still curious eyes. She tilts her head to the side, making her hair cover more of her beautiful face. The boy reaches to move the hair, but the girl gives a warning growl and moves her head back.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you."

She's still suspicious of the boy, but she looks at his eyes and sees a kind of caring she has never seen before. The girl lets him push her hair back behind her ear, and he says, "There. Isn't that better?"

She smiles, really enjoying the kindness he was giving her. The girl thinks, _He's different from the others._

"So, can you talk?"

After the girl nods, Hiccup asks, "So, what's your name?"

She hesitant to answer, but then says, "Astrid."

"Astrid. That's a nice name. Mine's Hiccup."

Astrid chuckles, making the auburn grin. "I know. Funny name."

When she's done, the girl realizes what's happening and flies away from Hiccup. He watches her with a confused look. The boy notices the time of day and makes a reminder, _I'll come visit tomorrow, _then heads back home.

* * *

Astrid watches the boy leave on her tree bed, having mixed feelings for the first time in years. _I shouldn't have all these feelings for one boy. He's the one who shot me from the sky and made me unable to fly! But yet, he seems really nice. I'd say caring almost. Or is this all an act to get close to me? _She closes her eyes to sleep and, for some odd reason to her, misses the boy's company.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay. I was unable to get onto the Internet for a week, but now I can update once again!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: New Tail**

With nighttime coming, the trainees and teacher sit around a blazing fire, everyone listening to Gobber's tale, except for Hiccup.

"And with one twist, it took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look in its eye. I was delicious. It wasn't a month later before another one came and took my leg."

Everyone awes at his story, and Fishlegs says while swinging around two cooked legs, "Isn't it weird to think that your hand is inside a dragon, like your mind was still in control of it? You could've killed the dragon by crushing his heart or something."

"I swear I'm so angry right now." Snotlout sneers, gripping harder on his chicken cooking stick. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my face."

"Mm-mm-mm." the blacksmith disagrees, pulling a cooked wing off of his turkey. "It's the wings and the tail you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away."

The words echo in Hiccup's head, finding the answer. "A downed dragon is a dead one."

Gobber gets up and yawns, saying, "Alright, I'm off to bed. You should be, too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly, but surely, work your way to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who will win the honor of killing it?"

Everyone gets excited about the thought of fighting the tougher dragons. Tuffnut puts down his ckicken and gloats, "It's gonna be me. It's my destiny, see?"

Kristal then notices the cooked fish on the chair without Hiccup as the twin lifts up his shirt to reveal a mark. Fishlegs gasps and asks, "Your mom let you have a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."

Ruffnut says, "Uh, I've been stuck with you since birth, and I have never seen that."

"Yes I did. You just never saw me from this side before."

The brunette walks over to the stairs and has just enough time to see an auburn head moving down just before it vanishes. She raises an eyebrow, wondering why the weird boy is getting weirder.

* * *

Once everyone has headed home, Hiccup runs to the blacksmith and gets out his notebook, turning to the portrait and redraws the missing fin on Astrid's tail. He then gets to work.

After creating some plans and blueprints, the auburn first starts with heating the rods up and hammering them into shape. When that's done, he dumps it into a barrel of water to cool the metal, then repeats the process four more times. He sets the rods to the side and grabs a shield, using the pliers to rip the metal bolts off and heats them up to shape them to spheres, then weighing them. The teen attaches the spheres to connectors, attaching the rods to a base, then slices and stitches leather to a tailfin shape. Hiccup slides the rods through the gaps in the strong fabric, and ends all of his hard work with sphere attaching at the ends of the rod, so the leather doesn't slide off.

When he's done, the boy admires his handiwork and folds it up before running back home for rest.

* * *

Next morning, Hiccup filled a basket with different types of fish and an eel and throws it on his back before getting the invention he made last night. The teen then sneaks through the village and walks through the forest. In no time, he made it to the stone basin and walks through the opening, finding Astrid the dragon sitting on a rock, combing her hair with her hands. As the auburn walks closer, Astrid sniffs the air and turns around.

"Hey there, Astrid."

"Hi, Hiccup." she says, looking at the basket on the boy's back. The boy catches her look and says, "Oh, I've brought some breakfast for you." He drops the bag and places his foot on the top, tipping it over and spilling out the fish, the sloshing slightly nauseating. "I don't know how much hybrid dragons eat."

The dragon teen licks her lips in hunger and crawls to it, still sniffing. As she looks through the fish, Hiccup continues, "There are salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel."

Astrid stops sniffing the fish and backs ups, growling at the pile with slit eyes. Hiccup looks between the two then reaches in the fish, taking out and lifting the black and yellow eel. Astrid widen her eyes and quickly backs up, shrieking in fright, but Hiccup quickly says, "No no no no!" before throwing it away. As he wipes the slime off his hand, he reassures, "It's alright. I didn't mean to scare you with the eel. I don't really like eel much either."

The girl looks at him with an annoyed and angry look but slowly crawls back to the fish. Upon sniffing, she doesn't smell any more eels and gladly grabs a cod from the pile, ripping the meat right off its bone. She's soon done and goes on to a second fish while Hiccup takes a seat on a boulder. "Wow. You're hungrier than I thought."

In about five minutes, the basket is halfway empty when she finally looks up at Hiccup. Astrid raises a fish to him, but he declines, "No thanks. I already had fish earlier."

Soon, the basket has only a few salmon in it and the teen dragon walks to the clear pond, taking a couple licks to wash down the fish, finally relaxed with a full stomach. She gets on her feet when she's done and turns around to Hiccup, asking, "So, what's the…thingy in your arms?"

"Oh!" He picks up his contraption and unfolds it, showing her the makeshift tail. "I want to apologize for ruining your tail,"

She growls quietly and moves her tail away from the boy.

"And so, to make it up, I made you a new one." Astrid examines the device with interest and awe. She snaps out of her reverie and says, "Well, that's…really nice of you. But does it work?"

"There's only one way to find out." Hiccup says with a smirk.

Groaning, the hybrid moves her tail to her hands and asks, "You're not going to rip my last tailfin, are you?"

"I promise I won't."

She shifts her eyes to the lake and looks back at her reflection, feeling truly unsure. She still doesn't trust the boy, at least fully, but he had gone through the trouble to get some food for her when she couldn't, and he did make a new tail to try and help her. And yet, this could all be a plot to get close to her then kill her, like the barbarians did to her mother. Astrid closes her eyes, feeling the tears coming again.

Hiccup sees her sad look and says, "Of course, if you don't want to, I understand. I mean, you obviously are having trouble trusting me. Why don't I just go and come back later?" He gets up and starts walking to the opening, head down, when something grabs his hand. Confused and kind of shocked, the auburn looks down and sees clawed fingers gripping his, and looks up to find Astrid's warming smile. With a grin, he asks, "So you want to try it?"

"Mm-hmm." She murmurs, nodding. The teen dragon swings her tail up to Hiccup, who leans down and unlatches the tail. Astrid sits on a rock and places her tail near the boy. He then starts working on attaching his creation so it's symmetrical with hers. After the belts have been tightened, Hiccup unfurls the makeshift tail and steps back to look at his success. "There. Perfect size."

Astrid raises her tail and inspects her tail, flinging, folding, and twisting it around. "It's good, but it won't work."

"What?" he asks, losing the smile. "Why not?"

"Well, the two tails have to move alike. That's how I'm able to fly."

The auburn clasps his hands together and places them on his mouth. "So the two tails have to align together in order to fly. Okay, but I don't know how long it'll take me to come up with a design and then be able to make it. The best I think is either a few weeks or a month or two, tops."

"Oh." The dragon teen moves her head down, her hope of flying again slowly reducing. A tweet catches her ears and she looks up to find a bird soaring. The sight of freedom starts to bring tears to her eyes, so she closes her eyes and turns away from the boy.

Hiccup starts rubbing the back of his head and turns away too, the guilt and sadness returning to his heart again. "But I'll try to make it as fast as I can. I'll stay up all night, if I have to, to try and complete your tail. For you."

The girl looks up with slightly bloodshot eyes and asks, "Really?"

"Really." He assures, smiling. The next thing he knows is Astrid's giving him a friendly hug, tears freely falling down her face. "Thank you."

Hiccup is caught off-guard. A girl is giving him a hug out of her own free will. That has never happened to the auburn before, and he is unsure on what to do next. He starts patting the girls back with hesitant hands and saying, "You're welcome."

The boy doesn't know how long he was hugging Astrid, whether mere seconds or hours, but he moves the blonde girl away and says, "I should get back. The others will soon start wondering where I am." Hiccup walks to the gap of the basin, stopping to get the Smoked Eel, when Astrid calls, "Hiccup? Will you come back tomorrow?"

Hiccup turns back and, with a grin, answers, "Everyday."

The dragon teen smiles. The boy returns it and heads back to his village toward the arena.

* * *

"Today is about teamwork." Gobber says, unlocking large double doors. Instantly, they burst open and let's green smokes billow out with low growling. The teens slowly back up from the smoke, all holding buckets of water. "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathe smoke. The other one lights it. Your job is to find which is which."

The group splits as the smoke surrounds them: Kristal with Ruffnut, Tuffnut with Snotlout, and Hiccup with Fishlegs.

Hiccup's mind wasn't in the training, though. It was focused on all the possible designs to make the tail work. Meanwhile, annoying him the most, the chubby boy glances around with terror written all over his face, muttering, "Razor-sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims to-"

"Will you please stop that!" the auburn growls.

Snotlout and Tuffnut scour the green mist for any head. Snotlout has fear riddling up his spine, but he hides it under his tough man act, "If that dragon, show either of its faces, I'm gonna…" He sees horns in the smoke and quickly says, "There!" Both Lout and Tuff throw their water at the horns, and girl shrieks meet their ears. The smoke clears the reveal Kristal and Ruffnut. "Hey, it's us, idiots."

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon." Tuff says with a chuckle.

Snotlout still tries to impress Kristal by saying, "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragoness figure." but he gets a fist on his nose, knocking him down. Ruffnut throws her bucket at her twin and knocking him down. He raises his head to reveal groggy eyes when suddenly he's taken into the smoke. Yells and growls are heard in the smoke and the twin was about to enter it when the burnette stops her. "Wait." She picks up her bucket, but a double tail swings out and trips them both, making the water splash behind Kristal. Tuffnut runs out and clampers over his twin, yelling, "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

Fishlegs and Hiccup watches the twin run away, and the Legs says dreadfully, "Chances of surviving are dwindling into single digits now."

A green, roundish head slithers out of the green smoke and starts twitching at the brains. Thinking it's the spark head, he throws the water on it, but the Zippleback lets out more of its green smoke, now annoyed.

"Oops. Heh heh. Wrong head."

The dragon lets out a stream of its weapon, scaring the chubby boy beyond. Gobber yells, "Fishlegs!"

The auburn watches the brains run and turns to find the other head sending sparks out.

"Now Hiccup!"

He throws the last bucket of water to the head, but it falls short. "Aw, come on."

The two heads of the Hideous Zippleback slither toward the unarmed boy, growling at him. The blacksmith was about to run and save him when a shocking sight appears before him. The Zippleback backs away from Hiccup, who just waves his hands at it. "Back. Back. Back! Now don't you make me say it again!" He forces the dragon back into its lockup, still talking, "Back into your cage." The boy then moves his vest a little and takes out the Smoked Eel he snuck in. "Now think about what you've done." After throwing the eel in the cage, the Hideous Zippleback quickly retreats up onto the wall, trying to keep away from the awful sea snake. Hiccup closes the large doors and wipes the slime off his hands, when he notices everyone gawking at him. "Okay, well is that all? Because I have things I need to…yep." He leaves the arena, and Kristal watches him with perplexity. _What is up with him now?_

Hiccup paces in his office, his desk covered with sketches of a prosthetic tail and drawings of Astrid, as he thinks of a way to make two things move identically. He thought of springs, ropes, gears, pulleys, and other means, but none work the way he wants them. "Oh man, this is gonna take me forever to just get the basic. I mean, it'll be easier for me to ride her if she was bigger, but that'll be really uncomfortable as well as really awkward." The auburn sits on his chair and thinks of more ideas, not seeing a person walk in. "So how'd you do it?"

The boy jumps in surprise and turns to see Kristal. "How'd I do what?"

"You know what. How did you get the Zippleback back in its cage?"

Hiccup starts to get nervous but says, "Oh, you know. Using my Viking demeanor on it. I mean, that dragon can sense all the Vikingness inside, so he was frightened."

"I highly doubt that."

"What else could it be, Kristal?"

She examines the boy then catches some of the drawings on his desk, seeing one design that looks suspiciously like a tail. The brunette turns back to Hiccup and says, "I'm watching you." She leaves, and Hiccup sighs in relief, saying, "That was close." He notices the time outside and makes a mental note to return this his project tomorrow. After putting all the drawings in a secret storage, the auburn returns home and collapse onto his bed with his mind still thinking of different blueprints, when an idea strikes his mind.


End file.
